Plastic polish

[teK--]

Has anyone tried a good DIY solution to get all these scratches out of the clock/info display above the center console? The plastic is pretty scratched up by the previous owner.

Rather than buy a 250ml bottle of some treatment for such a small area I was wondering if there is an alternative product, household or otherwise that can be substituted. I vaguely remember that toothpaste was OK at removing scratches from CDs...

[smythie]

Toothpaste is a good grinding paste yes. Don't know how it would go for grinding scratches out of a plastic panel though...

[Woodduck]

Same with me. Around the audio controls etc its very scratched from the previous owner. Interested to see if someone comes up with something.

[nytrojen]

Jim - the toothpaste mentioned before is actually a really good first step. To get it really scratchfree use some brass-o or silver polish afterwards too. Mind you, it WILL take a LOT of elbow grease and polishing

[Hobber]

We used to use Brasso to polish plastics in high-school - worked really well...

It's really easy to pull the cubby out, undo a couple of screws and release the info display so you can really get a good polish done.

[teK--]

I'll try the toothpaste and possibly the brasso as well. Just checked it's only about $6 or $7 for a tub from Safeway. If it works well I can start removing scratches from all kinds of other stuff I have

As for elbow grease if I run out I'll just use the Dremel on low speed with the buffing pad. Will probably need to mask the area up pretty well with tape to prevent the paste going everywhere. Will let you boys know how I go!

[nytrojen]

I'll try the toothpaste and possibly the brasso as well. Just checked it's only about $6 or $7 for a tub from Safeway. If it works well I can start removing scratches from all kinds of other stuff I have

As for elbow grease if I run out I'll just use the Dremel on low speed with the buffing pad. Will probably need to mask the area up pretty well with tape to prevent the paste going everywhere. Will let you boys know how I go!

I wouldn't use the dremel... you'll probably scratch it up worse. Best to go by hand and maybe skip the toothpaste and just use the brass-o, as the toothpaste is coarser, and may introduce more scratches. All depends on how badly it's scratched

[teK--]

I picked up some Brasso, masked around the display with masking tape and used a microfibre cloth to work it in. Rubbing in small circular motions for probably 5 minutes all over. After the first session it looked ok but not as smooth as I wanted so I did a second session but applied more pressure.

SHIT! I now had swirl marks all over the display it looked worse then after the first session. I must have been a bit to enthusiastic this time and also realise that Brasso must be a pretty abrasive compound to be able to polish metal.

Well I looked in the shed and found a tube of Meguiars Scratch X which is probably about 10 years old so thought I'd give that a go. I just rubbed it in with my finger.

It now looks pretty good and is a vast improvement over what I started with...

[nytrojen]

definitely looks better than before at least! Also... wtf. Your fuel gauge goes in 0.1 increments... mine will only do 0.2 increments, AND it's nowhere near accurate. Guess i'll ask them to look at that during the 100k service

edit: I just realised that your unit is in km/L whereas mine is L/100km. Also explains why I thought your fuel consumption was ridiculously low when it really isn't I managed to get mine down to 10.6 km/L this week... or 9.82 L/100km

[vp920b]

Just want to ask,

Why your fuel consumption display, different layout than my car?

Thanks jim.

[Hotwire]

Did you mask the buttons also there Jim? How did yo manage that if you did.... looks a lot better and mine needs exactly the same thing.

So you key tip is not much pressure but lots of circular motion for a while?

[vp920b]

For plastic I recommend Meguiars Plast X. Other thing can be use also, such as scratch X or Ultimate compound. But don't ever get to the black plastic, will make mark on the surroundings.

Cheers

[teK--]

Hehe yeah Avon they fixed the damn measurement in the MY05... If one good thing to come out of it, is that I can divide numbers into 100 very quickly in my head now to work out my L/100Km My absolute best mileage is 7.04L/100Kms coming back from Shepparton, over 200kms sitting almost flat on 100-110.

Naldo: Yeah I heard PlastX is good as well. I just didn't want to have to go out and buy a $15-$20 tub of anything to treat such a small part of the car. The Brasso cost $8 from Safeway I probably used about 5c worth of it. I can use it to polish other metal things though which is good.

Hotwire: Yep minimal pressure is key with the Brasso anyway. I have just read up on its ingredients and it is basically very fine silica (sand) particles in solution. I suggest use a cotton bud or something. I'd probably not buy Brasso given a second chance and would just go straight to the Scratch X or Plast X. The only time when you would *need* Brasso is for deep scratches which it would be good for getting out.

Advantage of the Scratch X is you can also use it on your paint. I actually taped the whole ends of the display, covering the buttons. So basically I was just buffing the main section of the display which is between the buttons. The little bits around the buttons weren't that scratched at all and just needed some minor rubbing with a cloth.